Maine’s community colleges continue to grow
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA — Enrollment in Maine’s community colleges has grown 4.3 percent since last fall, an increase of 769 students. Since making the transition from technical to community colleges in 2003, the seven colleges have experienced an 83 percent growth in their enrollment, from 10,127 to 18,548 students this fall.
In announcing the numbers, Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons noted the central role the community colleges are playing in expanding access to higher education for Maine people, but he cautioned that the colleges are unable to serve all those who seek to enroll.
“Demand for all of our programs, particularly the trade and occupational offerings, remains strong, but the colleges lack the capacity to serve many more students. As a result, enrollment growth is slowing,” he said. “Eighty-four occupational programs offered by the colleges are at or over capacity this fall. Again this year, we have had to turn away many qualified applicants. This is bad for those who seek a more secure future through a college degree and bad for the state’s economy which needs many more highly skilled workers. The will and the demand are there. The resources are not.”
At Northern Maine Community College, the total headcount for the fall 2011 semester is 1,160, which reflects a growth of 3.9 percent.
“I think students are continuing to be stretched financially to be able to go to school and complete a degree, so although I would have liked to have seen a little more growth, I am happy with the increase,” said NMCC President Timothy Crowley, noting there was “a surge toward the end of the summer which helped us a little bit.”
“One of the reasons for the increase in enrollment is the number of high school students that participate in early college programs,” he said. “They’re in high school, but they take a class or two from us which is factored into the enrollment figures.”
Unfortunately what isn’t calculated into the overall enrollment figures is the number of non-credited students.
“There are between 800 and 900 students that we serve through our non-credit programs like our commercial driving program,” said Crowley. “We really serve about 2,000 students each semester but it’s only the credit students that are ‘counted’ in enrollment numbers due to federal reporting standards.”
Crowley said the physical space is becoming an issue on campus and can also limit growth.
“We’re starting to run out of room,” he said. “Fortunately we’ve been able to utilize our new alternative energy center for some classes.
“If I could build more buildings on campus I would in a heartbeat, but the budget’s just not there,” said Crowley, “so we make do. We’re trying to branch out and utilize facilities off campus, as well. We have expanded our course offerings in our Houlton and St. John Valley centers, and are offering classes in Caribou and Van Buren, so what we’re doing is really a county approach.”
Crowley said the number of students enrolled in the nursing and other health care fields is so high the community college actually has to turn students away.
“It’s too bad because we want those students here,” he said, “but there’s no room for them.”
The enrollment numbers announced recently are preliminary, but are not expected to change significantly by the official census date of Oct. 15. Crowley predicts that there will more growth in the spring, a trend the college has seen in recent years.
The colleges with the largest enrollment growth this fall are Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield (up 6.5 percent), Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor (up 5.8 percent) and Southern Maine Community College in South Portland and Brunswick (up 5.3 percent).
